Karnataka outfits call State bandh on August 13 over water release

Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar appeals to them to withdraw their bandh plans

Various Kannada organisations have called a bandh in Karnataka on August 13 in protest against the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA)’s directive to release water to Tamil Nadu.

On Thursday (July 30, 2026), the CWMA upheld the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee’s (CWRC) earlier order to Karnataka to release 3,500 cusecs of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu for 15 days. Citing poor storage in its reservoirs, Karnataka has been reiterating its inability to release water to the neighbouring State.

A decision to call the State-wide bandh was taken at a meeting of various Kannada organisations held in Bengaluru on Friday (July 31, 2026) under the leadership of veteran leader and former MLA Vatal Nagaraj.

All-party meet on August 2

Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar appealed to the Kannada organisations not to go ahead with the bandh. “There is no need for it as we [the government] are also in your favour. You will not get any relief by calling a bandh,” he told them.

He said the government will decide its next move on the water release issue only after getting advice from legal experts and after consulting the Opposition at an all-party meeting on Sunday (August 2, 2026).

Film screening stopped

Owing to the tense atmosphere in the State, Mr. Shivakumar appealed to his Tamil Nadu counterpart, C. Joseph Vijay, to put off his visit to Karnataka. The Chief Minister’s appeal came in the wake of protests across Karnataka’s Cauvery basin, particularly in the command area of Mandya, where demonstrators tore posters of Mr. Vijay’s recently released film Jana Nayagan and forced theatres at some places to halt its screening.

Mandya district continued to witness protests as Opposition BJP workers staged a demonstration outside the main entrance to the KRS reservoir in Mandya district. The police detained a large number of BJP workers and leaders, including the party’s State president B.Y. Vijayendra and Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly R. Ashok. The BJP has threatened to boycott Sunday’s all-party meeting if the Chief Minister does not give a commitment on not releasing water to Tamil Nadu.

The Chief Minister said the inflow into the reservoirs in Karnataka’s Cauvery basin had improved in the last two to three days and described it as a “reassuring sign”.

Referring to the storage position of four reservoirs in the State’s Cauvery basin, he said Harangi reservoir had a storage of 95% of its full capacity, while that in Kabini was 83%, KRS 36%, and Hemavathi 67%. “Our dams are seeing an inflow of about 25,000 cusecs (a day) while we have been asked to release 3,500 cusecs [a day],” he noted.

“The release made till July this year has been the smallest quantum of water released in the last 100 years to Tamil Nadu,” he said. In fact, Tamil Nadu had sought release of 9.94 tmcft of water, but the CWRC recommended roughly half that amount, he noted.